The Demon Within
by MyInnerWeirdo
Summary: I cant find a good summery for this...sorry...your going to have to read and find out. Reviews appreciated. FlakyXFlippy New characters
1. Chapter 1

Flaky sat on the bench, waiting for the bus to arrive. She was cautiously looking around, looking for any sign of danger. She wished the bus would hurry up, so she could get to somewhere safe-her house was an option, too bad that's not where she was headed-A small drop of rain pelted the roof of the bus stop, and Flaky sighed. She never liked the rain; it made the road slippery and added driving to Flaky's danger list.

She shifted in her seat, becoming slightly impatient. Her eyes were locked onto her feet. The rain started to come down hard. She shivered; she had left her jacket at home, not expecting it to rain today. Then again, you never expected anything that's about to happen in Happy Tree Town, ever.

Just then, something had caught her attention; someone had sat down next to her. She glanced over, seeing a green bear dressed in an army fatigue. His shoulders were damp from the rain, and his beret was also wet. He looked at her, smiling. "Hi, Flaky, what's up?"  
It was then she realized that she was staring at him; she looked away, blushing a little. "Nothing much. You?"

"Same. Where are you headed?"

Flaky shrugged. "Into town, visiting a friend." The friend she was visiting was a good friend who was four years younger than her. She was a young fox with green fur; the fur was a darker shade of green than Flippy's, in fact, people thought that her friend was a bear, fox hybrid. Or, was at least related to Flippy in some way. Her name was Neon, named for the color of her fur, which obviously wasn't neon green. Neon was a nomad, before she ran into Flaky six months ago. After becoming well acquainted with Flaky, she decided to stay; she didn't want to leave a timid animal like Flaky all alone in a city like this.

Flaky shivered again, the rain had begun to come down even harder, and a gust of wind hadn't made it any better.

"Are you cold?" Flippy asked, "I have and extra jacket, if you want it."

"You carry an extra jacket?" Flaky asked, looking at him strangely.

"Sure, in case someone else needed it. Which is now." Flippy took a jacket from around his waist, and handed it to her. Flaky put it on. Her quills tore a few holes in the back of it, other than that it fit perfectly.

"Thank you." She said, shyly.

"Not a problem." He said, happily.

Flaky looked up at him, he had turned his attention to the rain that was pelting the ground. There were so many things that she liked about him; but sadly there were too many to name... Again, Flaky had caught herself staring at him...luckily he hadn't noticed this time.

"Um...Flippy?"

"Yeah?"

"If...you don't mind me asking...where exactly are you heading?"

Flippy thought for a moment. "I don't really know, I just like to travel. Which...brings me to ask: do you mind if I go with you to meet your friend?"

Flaky's eyes lit up. "No, not at all! Of course you can come." She answered quickly.

"You sure seem excited about that," Flippy said, laughing a bit. Flaky blushed.

"Well, she's never talked to anyone but me before, so she might like you."

Flippy smiled. "Well, I can understand how someone could be happy for a friend to meet new people."

Flaky nodded. She would never admit it to anyone, not even Neon, but she had a large crush on Flippy. Nowadays, she was beginning to feel that it was more than a crush. Soon after, the bus arrived. The driver was none other than Lumpy, which meant trouble for the both of them.

Flippy followed Flaky towards the back of the bus, and sat next to her in the back seat.

"Why do you sit all the way back here?" Flippy asked, as Flaky leaned against the window.

"So no one can make fun of me..." Flaky said, gloomily. Flippy looked almost shocked.

"Who would make fun of you?"  
"You'd be surprised..." Flaky murmured. "There's Petunia, who makes fun of me the worst, then there's Disco Bear, who is at least trying to be nice...Handy, whenever he's around, gets angry at the both of them whenever they make a rude gesture about me."

"Well, I guess Handy is generally a nice guy."

"But I think he's only being nice to me because he pities me..." Flaky sighed, staring out the window.

Flippy thought for a moment, trying to think of ways to make Flaky feel better. "But you do have you're friends, right? There's that girl you were talking about, Cuddles, Giggles, Toothy...and me!"

Flaky looked up at him, smiling. The bus came to its first stop, and Flaky glanced out the window, seeing the two kleptomaniac raccoons she despised. They were smiling their signature smile. Flaky prayed hard that they wouldn't get on the bus, but, sadly, they did, and Flaky groaned.

Flippy noted her reaction when the two raccoon brothers stepped on the bus and scooted defensively toward her. Flaky blushed, having noticed Flippy's protectiveness. She tried not to show her embarrassment, but her blush had shown through even through her red fur.

Lifty and Shifty walked to the back of the bus, where Flaky and Flippy were sitting, they sat down in the seat just in front of them and Flippy slid a bit closer to Flaky. Flaky was hoping that the raccoons wouldn't notice them, but whenever she didn't want something to happen, it always did.

The two brothers turned around in their seat, looking at them. "Look Shifty, it's the scardy cat porcupine and the psycho bear!" Flaky groaned, and hit her head on the back of the seat. "Odd couple, eh?

"Yeah, Lifty. What are you two doing here anyways? Are you out on a date?" Shifty mocked, earning a glare from Flippy.

"If you must know," He growled at the raccoons. "We're just going to visit a friend."

"Oh really?" Shifty and Lifty said simultaneously. "Why are you sitting so close to her?"  
"Because of _you two_." He shot at them. His eyes flashed green, and then the raccoons backed off.

"Uh, okay, we'll leave you alone now." Said Shifty as he moved to another seat, dragging Lifty with him.

Flaky sighed in relief, leaning her head on the window again. By the looks of the neighborhood, they were halfway to Neon's house. Flaky just wished Neon lived in a better neighborhood.

"...Does your friend live here?" Flippy asked, looked out the window, Flaky didn't need to answer, because Flippy continued to speak. "This is a bad part of town..."

"I know, I wish she would move, but she doesn't have enough money to afford a better house...in fact...she lives in an apartment." Flaky sighed, she offered many times to let Neon live with her, but Neon refused, not wanting to be a burden to Flaky.

Neon was incredibly stubborn, but that also made her ignorant in many ways. When she first appeared in Happy Tree Town, she died six times in one week.

The bus came to its third stop, at Neon's house. Flaky and Flippy got off, they walked inside. "Okay, we're looking for room 203. Remember so we don't get lost." Flaky said.

"Haven't you been here several times before?"

"Yes...but in this kind of apartment, it's easy to get lost. Seriously, it's like trying to survive in Raccoon City."

Flippy looked a little worried. If Flaky was willing to make a reference to Resident Evil then this place must be as bad as it sounds. He walked close to Flaky, watching for anything bad to happen, which it might. They were on the second floor by now, and people were staring at them strangely.

There was a dark brown cat whose eye was missing; he was staring lustfully at Flaky, who hadn't noticed. Flippy, taking action, wrapped an arm around Flaky, glowering at the cat.

Flaky tensed, keeping her gaze away from Flippy. Suddenly, Flippy stopped walking, "Here we are. Room, 203 right?"

Flaky nodded timidly and Flippy knocked on the door. He shot one last glare at the cat, who glared back.

The door opened, revealing a young green fox. Almost as soon as she opened the door, she looked shocked. "Oh my God!" She said, laughing. "Flaky!? Who's this? You're boyfriend?" She was looking at the fact that Flippy's arm was still around her.

Flippy pushed Flaky in, the fox moved aside, letting Flippy in as well, then shut the door. "There was a cat looking at Flaky as if he were about to...you know. I had to do that." Flippy said with a sigh.

The fox looked a little freaked out, knowing which cat Flippy was talking about. "Yeah...I think that was the bastard who tried to kick in my door last night."  
"And _that's_ why I want you to move in with me Neon!" Flaky said. "Besides, you know how much I've wanted a roommate."

"You've wanted a roommate?" The fox asked. "And who the hell is this guy who I thought was you're new and first boyfriend?"

"Oh right." Flaky sighed. "Neon, this is Flippy," She said gesturing to Flippy, "And Flippy, this is Neon." Then she gestured to Neon.

"Nice to meet you." Flippy held out his paw. Neon stared down at it.

"Not a chance buddy, I've heard of you." She growled. Flippy drew his paw back, a little offended.

"_Neon_!" Flaky seethed. Neon flinched.

"Sorry Flippy." She sighed, in the I'm-being-forced-to-apologize tone.

Neon was generally nice all the time, but she was normally around Flaky. There were days where she was pissed off the entire time, Flaky never knew why that was. There also were the days where Neon was neither nice nor mean, in fact, those days she just looked completely dead inside, those were the days Flaky decided to steer clear of her mood swinging friend.

Neon was also very over protective, she practically hates Petunia for what happened to Flaky a few months ago. She performed the cliché act of dumping a bucket of pigs blood on her. Poor Flaky had to take twelve baths to get the stains out of her fur. Not to mention she was instantly reminded of the time she went to the zoo, when she was five or six. She still could see all those dead chicks.

By the end of the day, Flippy and Neon had become friends. Flaky was relieved, she thought Neon wouldn't like Flippy, because of his disorder. But Neon had come to the conclusion that his flip outs weren't his fault.

It was late when Flippy and Flaky left, and Flippy offered to walk Flaky home. She couldn't decline, she didn't want to be alone in this neighborhood at this time of night.

They didn't say much most of the way, which made Flaky nervous. It wasn't raining anymore, but the silence was unnerving. When they were at Flaky's house, Flippy finally spoke. "Well Flaky, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." He said with a grin.

She nodded. "I'll see you."

Out of nowhere, Flippy had pulled Flaky into a warm embrace. "Goodnight." He said, Flaky had froze. Then, he released her, and waved goodbye. She waved back, and watched him walk away until he rounded the corner.

She sighed happily, and walked back into her house.

**Woo! I finally did it. I finally understand !! And this my first HTF story! Please review!!**


	2. OhmyGAWD!

Chapter Two

Neon slumped out of bed, the long dark green tuff that was her hair was a mess. She yawned, stretching her arms out. Today was going to be a long day, she just knew it.

She trudged out of her apartment, not really wanting to stay inside all day. After leaving the building she started walking towards Flaky's house. She had her paws in her pocket as she walked in a tired slump; she wasn't a morning person.

Soon, she began to see the familiar buildings that told her she was getting close to Flaky's house. She walked faster, wanting to get there soon, when suddenly, she saw the blue skunk she's despised since three months ago. She was talking to Giggles, who looked a little guilty about something.

"I don't know, Petunia, it sounds a little mean..." Giggles said. "And I'm not sure that green fox will take it if she finds out what you're planning to do."

"Trust me, it'll be hilarious!" Said Petunia, Neon's ears twitched.

"_What_ will be _hilarious_?" Neon growled. Petunia glanced at her.

"Oh uh...nothing, we were just planning something. For a friend. Yeah that's it..."

Neon looked at Giggles, expecting an answer from her. But, unfortunately Giggles took the easy way out and jumped in front of a semi-truck. When she turned back to Petunia, she had already hightailed it out of there.

Neon scratched the back of her ear, something that she always did when she was in question, then shrugged and walked away.

As Neon continued on her way, she was beginning to feel like something wasn't right, like something had changed. At first she thought it was just her stomach acting up, which seemed to happen a lot, but as she drew closer to Flaky's house, the feeling became stronger. It was making her nauseas. She wanted to suspect Petunia, but for some reason she didn't think that was the case.

As soon as Neon reached Flaky's house, Flaky had jumped out in a panic. "Neon! It's horrible!! Horrible I tell you, HORRIBLE!!"

"What!? Did Petunia pour pigs blood on you again!? THAT BITCH!!"

"No, worse...much worse!!" Flaky was obviously more freaked out than ever. Neon was actually worried about the poor girl.

"What!? You figured out that no animal with only a single personality will EVER love you!?"

"No...wait...oh you suck..." Flaky growled. Neon had actually figured out that Flaky was in love with Flippy...

Neon laughed. "I'm sorry, go on."

"My SISTER is coming!!"

Neon gasped. "Oh my GAWD, this is SO awful! What are we going to do!?" Neon said. Then she looked to Flaky. "Who is your sister?"

"Her name is Scarlett, and I just got a call from her last night and she will be here ANY minute!!"

"So?"

"She loves to embarrass me in public!"

Neon's left ear drooped, which did that whenever she was confused. "Why would you care when you're social life is already at rock bottom?" Swiftly dodging a slap from Flaky, Neon continued. "Sisters are sisters Flaky, its their job to embarrass their siblings."

Flaky opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly she saw something dark in Neon's hair. She ran her fingers through the wet spots of Neon's dark hair.

"Neon...what's in your hair?"

"Giggles' blood." Neon said soberly.

"Why...?"

"She jumped in front of a semi."

"And why did she do that?..."

"I glared at her..." Neon replied, "My eyes can kill."

Just then, a Volvo pulled up, and Flaky almost fainted. Neon was looking at the car in amazement. "Wow, what a nice car!" She said. Flaky spun Neon around, and looked at her in fear.

"Please! Help me! Don't leave me with her!"

Neon shrugged. "Don't worry, I'm with you all the way." She promised, looking sincere.

The door to the Volvo opened and a dark red porcupine stepped out. "Flaky! Long time no see!" Said the porcupine. "Who's your friend?"

"The names Neon sister of Flaky!" Neon said, waving.  
"Her name is Scarlett." Flaky whispered.

"Whatever!" Neon snapped. Scarlett ran up to the two friends.

The older porcupine hugged Flaky tightly. "I cant believe its been five years since I've seen you last!"

Flaky hugged her sister back. "Me neither."

"Aww...sibling moments, you gotta love 'em." Neon said, sighing. Then she walked into Flaky's house.

"and where are you going?" Scarlett asked.

"I'm going to scarf down some of Flaky's food."

Scarlett looked as though she was glaring at Neon, but she ran up the steps to meet up with her. "Mind if I join you?" She asked. Neon nodded, and they both entered Flaky's house.

Flaky sighed. "This is going to be a long day..."

**Sorry this chapter is short, but its just an introductory chapter. Scarlett is Flaky's older sister, and the plot may not show up for a few chapters. I also based Neon's behavior in this chapter after Sam from iCarly. Hope you enjoyed it. Please Reveiw.**


	3. Twilight, Friendship Dates, and To Do Li

Chapter Three:

The day was passing by unbearably slowly, just like Neon and Flaky had predicted. Even though they thought the worst, the company of Flaky's sister Scarlett was pretty enjoyable. Neon sighed, tapping her paw like finger on the table. She wished she brought her book, Twilight. But unfortunately she hadn't, she left it in her apartment. Which was something she normally didn't do.

Flaky sat next to Neon. The fox looked at the porcupine. "Y'know what book I havent read yet...one by Stephenie Meyer?"

"What?"

"Eclipse."

"Oh you're so sad..." Flaky said, shaking her head. "Too bad we don't have a copy, huh?"  
Just then, there was a knock on the door, Flaky got up to answer it. It was Flippy at the door. "Hey Flaky, how are you today?" He said.

"I'm fine. What are you doing here?"

Neon, seeming to take interest in the conversation for some reason, crept up silently behind Flaky, without either of them noticing she was there.

"I was wondering...if you would like to hang out with me sometime?"

Neon, still unnoticed by both Flaky and Flippy, almost shrieked with delight, but she contained herself, because shrieking in delight would take her out of character , and continued to listen.

"A-as in..." Flaky stammered, "A...date?"

Flippy blushed. "Ohh..n-no. Just as...friends. Okay?"

"Oh...okay..." Flaky said. "When?"

"Later today, if you want."

"Okay...see you later then..." Flaky said, and shut the door. She turned, and came face to face with yet another green resident of Happy Tree Town. Only this one was female and was a fox.

"Hi Flaky...didja get a date? Didja? Didja?" Neon asked in a hyperactive tone.

"No, we're just going out as friends..." Flaky said it as if she were talking to a three year old. "Don't go getting any ideas."

"Oh c'mon, Flaky! I know you love him..."

"Love who?" Said Scarlett, as she strolled into the room. Flaky looked at Neon in worry, afraid that she would tell her sister everything.

"Oh...just Pete Wentz, y'know, the dude from Fall Out Boy." Neon lied, with a wholehearted smile. Scarlett looked at the two in question, then shrugged.

"Oh everyone loves him. Just like everyone, including me, loves Ryan Ross." She said, now addressing the band Panic At The Disco. Neon nodded, and Scarlett left the room.

When they were sure Scarlett couldn't hear them, Neon leaned in and whispered. "You owe me for this..." and strolled away.

Flaky knew what she meant. She would have to do something in return for Neon not giving away her secret. Neon stretched out her arms, yawning.

"God, days like these always get me tired...I'm taking a nap." She said, returning to Flaky's couch.

Flaky sighed, "How dare you leave me with my sister, **_alone_...**"

Neon was already asleep, but her devious smile proved that she had heard Flaky before falling into slumber.

Later that day, Flippy called, asking if Flaky was ready. She said yes. Now all she needed to do was wait. Just as she put the phone back on the receiver, Neon had woken from her nap. "Woah...Flaky, I just had the wildest dream that I was eating a fluffy rabbit...now my tail is gone!" She said worriedly, then her tail swung over the sofa. "Oh there it is, I was just sitting on it. Then what the hell did I eat?"

A sudden high pitched screech was heard, Neon looked down at the ground to see Cuddles, his lower body eaten and his entrails showing, crawling in circles and shouting in agony. "Oooh...I'm sorry Flaky's friend..." Neon said, cringing. "When did he get here?"  
"A few hours ago, he sat down next to you and then you just started to eat him." Flaky said.

"And you didn't do anything?!" Neon asked. "Why not?!"

"Yeah, _**why**_?" Cuddles demanded.

Flaky looked at the both of them, and answered honestly. "Because...I was afraid she would eat me if I got anywhere near her..."

Then, there was a knock on the door, and Flaky hurried to answer it. It was, as Neon mentally predicted, Flippy. "Hi Flaky, ready to go?"

Flaky nodded, and left with Flippy. As soon as the door closed, Cuddles asked "Does she...?"

"Yeah, she's in love with him, madly."

"Did she tell you?"

"No, I did an Edward Cullen thing and listened to her talk while she slept."

Cuddles looked and Neon in shock. "You're mean."

Neon giggled slightly. "I know..."

"Now...are you going to help me...?"

**Meanwhile...**

As Flippy and Flaky walked through the park, they began talking about their normal lives...Flaky even told Flippy what Neon had said about her social life. Flippy had disagreed, although he knew Neon meant it as a joke.

They continued walking, Flaky had began to feel a lot less awkward around Flippy.

They sat on a nearby bench together. Neither had said a word since they took their seats. They just stared at the birds as they landed and then flew away. Flaky had something on her mind at the moment, and somehow forgot that she was with Flippy.

She thought about her sister, being alone with the aggressive and easy to anger fox that was her friend, Neon. She decided not to worry about it, after all, who would mess with a fox who had the blood of an innocent chipmunk in hair and ate half of a rabbit?

****

Back at the house...

With Cuddles now at the hospital, Neon was left alone with Scarlett, who was sitting in the armchair across from her, reading. Neon just laid on the couch, being bored, when suddenly something clicked in her head. "I've got it!!" She exclaimed, startling Scarlett.

"Got what?"

"An idea! Something that I haven't done yet in this town!"

Scarlett, curious on what the fox was talking about, stood up and walked over to Neon.

Neon had reached into her pocket and pulled out a well-abused looking piece of folded paper. Gently unfolding it in her paws, Neon looked eager. "I just remembered something on this list I haven't tried..."

"What do you mean?"

Neon looked at Scarlett with a smug look on her face. "When I first learned the natures of this town, and the entire forest around it, I made a list of things that I wanted to do that could possibly kill me!"

Scarlett looked over Neon's shoulder, reading the things Neon had did, there had to be over two hundred things on that list. Scarlett didn't even think there were that many things that could get you killed...

Neon had checked off so many things, and only one caught Scarlett's eye. "You stuck your head in a blender?" She asked in disbelief.

"Uh-huh...it was fun...painful, ooohhh so painful, but fun." Neon was scanning the paper, so she could show Scarlett what she wanted to do so badly. "There it is!" She pointed her finger at it, Scarlett looked at it.

"You...want to rob a gas station...?"

"Yep! Gas stations also have food, wanna come?" Neon asked, looking at Scarlett, who shook her head.

"No way, I'm not getting caught up in this..." She said with a sigh, she looked at Neon again. "Did your parents raise you right?"

Neon looked at Scarlett, a pained look showed in her almost grey eyes. She lowered her head, "My parents..." She said, her voice quivering. "...are dead..."

Scarlett immediately felt a tug at her heart. She had brought up a sore subject with someone she had just met. "I'm sorry." She said, "I didn't mean to bring that up...I didn't know..."

"Nah its fine...its been seven years, the thought of them hardly ever crosses my mind anymore." As if the subject had never been spoken of, Neon hopped off the couch and left the room eagerly, leaving the bewildered Scarlett behind.

**Yay, Chapter three...I have to admit I had some trouble writing this one...I will probably have trouble writing the following chapters as well...damn writers block...anyways...What do you think will happen next...? By the way, you have to have read the book Twilight to know some of these jokes. If you are a fan of Twilight, please let me know.**


	4. The Beaver Lady

Chapter Four:

Neon walked, or rather skipped, to the gas station, eager to actually rob one. Out of all the things she did, like sticking her head in the blender, bungee jumping without a bungee cord, pissing off Buddhist Monkey, attempting to tackle Flaky...and then get impaled by her quills... this was the thing she considered most dangerous in a way, the reason why was because there was this weird looking beaver lady. Neon had been cautious of her when she first arrived in Happy Tree Town, but now she knew the natures and was willing to approach her.

Neon had brought her favorite weapon, a handgun, of course she never kept it loaded, it was just for show. But now, although she had a reason to use it.

Neon had hoped she wouldn't run into to Flaky on her way to the gas station, but sure enough, she did. Flaky and Flippy were on their way back when they saw Neon, who looked a little disappointed to see them.

"Neon? What are you doing?" Flaky asked, Flippy looked down at Neon's jacket, seeing something glinting.

"I uh...I'm going to pick something up from the gas station... What are you doing?"  
"Flippy's taking me home..." Flaky said, she knew the look in Neon's eyes, they showed that she was about to do something they all would regret later in their eternal lives. "Neon...what are you planning to do...?"

"Nothing! Why?"

"What's in your jacket?" Flippy asked, still looking at the glinting object hidden behind Neon's jacket.

"It's nothing...just something I'm taking to someone, as a gift and I was supposed to...meet them at the gas station...yeah that's it...!" Neon, in a rush, squeezed between Flaky and Flippy, and ran as fast as she could. Flaky looked back, trying to figure out why her fox friend was acting so weird.

"Hey Flaky...what's this?" Flippy said, picking up a piece of folded paper. Flaky sighed when she saw it.

"That's just Neon's little 'To Do' list. All of the things she has on there will get her killed in some way."  
"Holy crap, she stuck her head in a blender!?"

"Why is everyone so surprised at that one?!" Flaky asked rhetorically. "Why not the bungee jumping without a bungee cord!?"

Flippy shrugged and continued scanning the paper.

Flaky continued to wonder what it was that Neon wanted to do so badly, whatever it was involved the gas station...

"Wow, a lot of these are checked off...I wonder how long it took to do all these things..."

Flaky shook her head at her fox friend's ignorance. "Two weeks..."

"Hey...the only one that isn't checked of is 'rob the gas station.'"

Flaky thought about it, "Nah, she wouldn't do something as stupid as that with the beaver lady around, even _with _eternal life." She concluded, then looked to Flippy in worry. "Would she...?"

****

MEANWHILE!!

Neon walked up to the counter. There seemed to be no one there; she was almost disappointed, she kind of wanted to run away from a crazed beaver with a boat load of money crammed in her pockets. "Hello...?" She called out, "Anybody here?" There was no answer, Neon shrugged, and reached for the cash register. Suddenly, a bulky, rough, furry arm grabbed hers. Gasping, Neon tried to break free from the beaver ladies grip.

"Just what are you trying to do, fox girl?" She said, standing up from behind the counter.

"Just...you know...looking for you? You're so nice..." Neon said, smiling innocently.

"What do you want, scumbag?"

"Oh...I uh...just wanted to browse, I was just seeing if it was alright with you..."

The beaver just stood there, keeping her grip tight around Neon's arm, but then she let go. "All right, go ahead..."

Neon immediately walked to the back of the store, and began pondering on whether this was a good idea or not. But...she was going to do it anyway, that's the kind of girl--er...fox-- she was.

****

Back with the Flaky and Flippy!

"Oh my God! She would do it!" Flaky shouted, having her daily freak out. "She's crazy! Crazy I tell you, CRAZY!!"

"I'm willing to agree with that..." Flippy said, not even bothering to try and calm Flaky down; when she gets like this, trying to calm her down would just be a bad idea... "But we need to get to her before she commits this act. Which she will commit soon..."

Just then, Toothy strolled by, catching the attention of Flippy, who grabbed him by his massive tail. "Toothy! You've gotta help us!"

"With what?" He asked, pulling his tail away.

"Neon is about to make the biggest mistake in her eternal life!" Flaky exclaimed. Toothy looked at Flaky.

"The fox who bungee jumped off the ski lift?" He asked, Flaky nodded. He scratched his chin. "What kind of trouble is she in...?"

"You know that strange beaver lady who works at the gas station?" Toothy nodded. "Well, Neon may be in trouble with her...she's going to try and rob the gas station..."

"Why?"

"I've been asking myself that ever since she showed me that list..." Flaky said with a sigh. "So can you help us?"

"How!? That beaver lady will kill anyone who tries to steal from her store!"

Flaky groaned; why was she friends with a such daredevil...in fact, why was she friends with two? Neon, unlike Cuddles, didn't drag Flaky into situations she didn't want to be in. But, she did need to drag Neon out of those situations, somehow. She honestly didn't care about some of Neon's shenanigans, until she takes them too far, that is.

"Just please help before Neon gets herself killed...again..."

Toothy sighed, seeing no way out of this situation, he had no choice but to help. "Fine." He said. "But if I die, I'm going to kill you."

"Um...thank...you?" Flaky said, looking a little scared.

**Back with the dumbass Neon!**

"Okay..." Neon sighed, taking her gun from her pocket. "Time to check off that last thing that I need to do..."

Neon made a beeline to the counter, and held the puny little unloaded pistol up to the beavers head. "Uhh...yeah, I'm robbin you and crap like that! Now give me the money!"

The clerk just stood there, not even fazed by the gun to her head. She just stared blankly off into space. Neon's ear drooped.

"Um...hello? I'm robbing you! I have a freaking gun in your face! Are you just going to stand there and do nothing!?"

The beaver knelt down, and started rummaging through a few boxes. Curious, Neon bent over the counter to see what was going on, only to have a fully loaded shotgun shoved into her face.

"Oh! Well...crap..." Neon backed away with her paws in the air. "Okay now...look...the gun isn't even loaded! I was just...y'know...getting the last thing on my To Do list done...Please don't kill me! Look I'm even tossing the gun away!" Neon said, chucking the gun through window, shattering it. "Uh...I'll pay for that..."

The beaver lady cocked the shotgun, Neon made sort of a 'meep' noise and shielded her face.

"NEON!!" Flaky shouted, throwing the door open. Just then the a loud gunshot fired through the store. Neon's blood had splattered everywhere; Flaky cringed, closing her eyes. When she opened them, she saw her friend staggering, holding her stomach. Neon looked at Flaky...the life in her eyes slowly draining.

"You're...just a tad bit late...my friend..." Then, Neon fainted.

**Well we all know Neon wont die for good, so no worry there right? By the way, I got a PM from a fan of this story, and dont worry, Neon's past wont take over the story, I'll just try to unravel it little by little. It will kind of be one of those side problems that has to be taken care of.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

They had to carry Neon to the hospital, seeing as that Lumpy was behind the wheel and they no longer trusted him because almost every vehicle he had gotten into had crashed in some way. Toothy carried her on his tail, while her blood leaked onto the sidewalk... Flaky and Flippy held her in place.

Neon had to be in excruciating pain right now...although she looked unconscious, there was no denying that she could feel the pain. Flaky was grateful that Neon hadn't been shot out of the Happy Tree Forest boundaries, if she had, and had been killed, there was no coming back...

By the time they reached the hospital, Neon looked dead, but a sudden cringe proved she was still alive.

They had to stay there all night, waiting for Neon to wake up. Flaky had fallen asleep, and was leaning on Flippy's shoulder. Flippy looked down at her, smiling slightly. Ever since he began to hang out with her he's had feelings for her, he just wondered if she felt the same way; he'd been having suspicions ever since she'd planned that surprise party for him...even though it turned into chaos later on it was still nice.

Just then, someone entered the room, but it was too dark in the room to see who it was. Flippy looked at the animal, it looked like it was a cat...Suddenly, the image of the cat who looked like he wanted to kill Flaky entered Flippy's mind.

It was that cat, but Flippy didn't know why he was here. The cat first looked at Flippy and Flaky, then to the defenseless Neon; battered and fatigued, there was no way she could fight back. She was also fast asleep.

The cat slowly walked up to the side of Neon's bed, with something gripped tightly in his paw. Flippy was about to jump out of the seat and tackle the cat when he slipped something under Neon's paw. The cat looked at Flippy, his aqua blue eyes were penetrating. And then, he just left.

Flippy was bewildered. Why had that cat come here? And why didn't he try anything? Was it because they were inside the boundaries of Happy Tree Forest? That could have been it...Flippy couldn't see any other reason.

Suddenly, Neon cringed, waking up. "Oh...my stomach..." She groaned. "It feels like led had to be forcibly yanked out of my midsection." She complained, her right paw resting on her stomach.

"That's what happens when you mess with the beaver lady, Neon." Flippy said, chuckling.

Neon sighed, then cringed in pain. "Dammit...that hurts!"

"Then stop moving, and be quiet, your going to wake Flaky."

The fox looked at Flaky, sound asleep, using Flippy as a pillow. Flippy expected for Neon to say something, but all she did was chuckle. Then, she noticed the item under her left paw. She held it up in the dim light, and her smile faded. "Oh...crap..." She muttered.

"What?"

"It's nothing...nothing you should concern yourself with..." Neon said, continuing to stare at the picture, the anger clear in her gray eyes. "I'm tired, I'm going to sleep..." Neon rolled onto her side, closing her eyes.

Flippy didn't think she was sleeping, her breathing pattern hadn't changed. He continued to wonder, but he didn't think he would ever know what the problem was...

Two weeks passed since Neon had gotten out of the hospital. She was basically her normal self, but she was on edge most of the time. Scarlett had been keeping an eye on her; a green carnivorous animal who was on edge usually meant trouble.

Cuddles, who had easily forgiven Neon for the whole "sleep eating" incident, walked up to Flaky's front door, with the fox by his side. "Flaky! Are you there?" Cuddles said, knocking on the door. A few moments past before the door opened, only it wasn't Flaky at the door, it was her sister Scarlett.

"Hi you two, Flaky's not here right now." She said, Cuddles sighed.

"Well where is she?" He asked, "Me and Neon were going to ask if she wanted to play a game...Paintball...yeah..."

"She's out with Flippy again. Between us, I think she might like that guy."

The green fox and yellow rabbit couldn't help but smile. It took all they had not to laugh. They bid Scarlett a farewell, and left.

"Why do you think Flaky's with Flippy?" Cuddles asked Neon, who seemed distracted.

"Hmm...I don't know, maybe she'll finally admit her feelings for him. The moment I'd been waiting for, for three months. Oh my God! If she does then I don't wanna miss it!" She said excitingly, breaking into a run. Cuddles rushed after her, just as eager as she was to see his best friend finally find the love of her live.

About five minutes later, Neon stopped abruptly, holding her arm out to the side, stopping Cuddles. "Sshh!" Neon hushed, and pulled Cuddles behind two barrels.

Peeking over the barrels, they saw Flaky and Flippy, sitting together. Talking about something...luckily, with Cuddles' huge ears and Neon's supersensitive hearing they could hear every word.

"...you're sister seems okay. I really don't see how she can be embarrassing..." Flippy said.

"Well, I guess she changed over the years..." Flaky sighed, "I hadn't seen her in five years after all..."

Then, the two sat in silence, as if they had nothing more to say to each other.

Neon and Cuddles continued to look at them, wondering what would happen next, it was as if they were watching a soap opera, which neither of them liked...But, neither of them moved from their spots, neither of them made a sound.

Flippy continued to stare out into the distance, as Flaky looked up at him, not even bothering to stop herself from staring at him.

She looked away, and sighed. Why couldn't she admit her feelings to him? What was holding her back? Should she get Neon, who already knows, to tell him? Maybe she should find another way...

"Flaky..." Flippy started, looking at her. She looked back at him. "I...need to tell you something..."

Cuddles leaned on Neon, who looked at him strangely. He looked at her, "Uh...just trying to comfort you...The suspense is unbearable!"

"Get off before I eat you again..."

"Flaky..." Flippy began, taking in a deep breath. Flaky scooted closer to him, wanting to hear what he had to say. "I just wanted to say that..." A sudden booming sound from the distance cut him off. Flaky shot a glance to her left, seeing Lumpy taping a bunch of firecrackers together and lighting them. Looking back to Flippy, she saw that he had already begun flipping out.

"Flaky!! Get the hell out of there!!" Neon's voice rang out. "You may not be dead forever but you will still be in a tremendous amount of PAIN!!" She saw Neon and Cuddles, their faces full of worry. They were waving their arms and screaming for her to run.

She looked back at Flippy, he seemed to be trying to fight his demon, and trying to get her to run as well. "F-Flaky...please...run!" He said, then his demon took over. He looked at her with those evil green eyes. She backed away from him, but then she tripped over a rope, and ended up getting tangled in it.

"O-oh no!" She cried, desperately trying to get untangled. Flippy looked down at her, grinning evilly; he didn't even have to try to catch up to her, she had already been caught. He slowly unsheathed his bowie knife, the look in his eyes were menacing. He raised the knife above his head, ready to kill yet another victim, when suddenly something crashed into him from behind.

It was Neon, she had tackled him to the ground and was now holding him down. Cuddles ran up to Flaky and began to untangle her. Flaky was too scared to go anywhere, even when Cuddles had untangled her and was pulling on her arm, trying to get her to her feet. Neon, meanwhile, was struggling to keep Flippy down, and was screaming at Flaky to run.

Finally, Cuddles hauled Flaky to her feet, and they both ran like the devil himself was after them. Suddenly, Flippy had knocked Neon off of him, and before she had a chance to stand, he slit her throat. "_That_ was for making me lose my prey! Stupid teenaged fox!" He seethed at Neon as she sputtered up blood. Then, Flippy ran after Cuddles and Flaky.

Splendid was flying over head, smiling happily as he looked down at all the happy animals. But his smile faded when he saw the helpful and kind fox, dead, lying in a pool of her own blood. He flew down to inspect the damage. He saw that her throat had been cut open, which meant Flippy was somewhere nearby.

Meanwhile, Flippy was still chasing the two horrified animals through the forest. Flaky knew they couldn't leave the forest, if they did, and Flippy caught up to them, then that was it...they wouldn't see the light of another day.

Suddenly, a knife tore through Cuddles' head, after screaming in agony, he hit the floor and died.

Now she was alone with a psychopath, not knowing what the hell to do...She just kept running, not looking back.

Flaky quickly turned and hid in a bunch of shrubs, hoping not to be found. She was there for what seemed like hours, but she could still hear Flippy looking for her. She could still feel his presence. She was shaking in fear, she tried to stop, but she couldn't. She could still see her friends dead bodies, just lying there, blood-soaked, and she would be next.

She held her knees up to her chest, still shaking. She closed her eyes, waiting for the whole thing to be over. Suddenly, the noises stopped, and the presence seemed to disappear. Opening her eyes, Flaky peered through the brush, looking for any sign of movement. Flippy seemed to have disappeared.

Carefully, Flaky stepped out of her hiding place, and looked around, it seemed as though she was walking on eggshells. She didn't know whether or not she was outside the boundaries of Happy Tree Forest; she had to be careful as to not run into Flippy.

She walked, cautiously looking around, trying to find her way back. But she couldn't find hers or Cuddles' footprints. She began to panic, she couldn't find her way back, that's what all that noise was earlier, it was Flippy covering up her tracks. "No..." She said, holding her head. "No...I...I cant find my way back..."

She dropped to her knees, and began to cry.


	6. Taking a Turn for the Worse

Chapter six:

Flaky continued crying, not knowing what else to do. She just sat there, crying, for a while. She had lost track of time. She didn't know when her friends would respawn and come look for her, or if Flippy would snap out of it and come and find her.

She was alone, not knowing where she was. She hoped--she prayed--that someone would find her, and tell her it was going to be okay. She wished her sister were there, Flaky didn't care how embarrassing she was anymore; she just wanted to go home. "Please..." She called out, sobbing. "Please...someone...help...me"

Her cries were in vain...she was all alone in the forest, and there was no way she could find her way back and there was no one looking for her. She stood up, brushing herself off. She had to at least try to find her way back.

Flaky started walking, ignoring the throbbing ache that appeared in her head while she had been crying. She tried to block it out, but it didn't work.

As she trudged on, the pain in her head got worse. She didn't know why she had the headache, or how, it was just a throbbing pain that wouldn't go away. She continued walking, she didn't want to be in that forest anymore.

Two hours past, and she wasn't anywhere near home. She couldn't keep going, she was too tired to keep walking. She collapsed onto the forest floor, sweat glistening her face. It didn't really help that it was getting dark...she only hoped her sister had noticed her disappearance and came to look for her. Soon, it began to rain; she didn't really care.

The headache had gotten worse, much worse. Flaky tried to remember how Neon puts up with headaches this bad. Neon had told her to just sleep it off.

Flaky didn't want to sleep, there was no time for it, but her eyelids began to droop. And soon, she was asleep.

(Six hours later)

When Flaky woke up, the moon was high in the night sky, the rain had stopped. Although she now felt rested, and the headache was gone, she still didn't feel like moving. She didn't know why, she felt as though she wanted someone to come and help her. She wanted Flippy to come...

She knew it was ridiculous, to want someone who had just attacked her to come and help her.

After a few minutes passed, Flaky began to hear the faint sound of footsteps. She stiffened, curling up into a ball. As the foot steps drew nearer, the fear deep inside her grew. She didn't know who it would be, or what they would do. The footsteps stopped, suddenly, and then she felt herself being lifted off the ground. Most likely out of hunger and exhaustion, she didn't have the strength to keep her eyes open, but whomever it was had topaz fur, and soft blue gray eyes.

The next thing Flaky knew, she was in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Sighing, she rolled over, to come face to face with a certain green fox. "OH MY GOD!!" Flaky screamed, almost falling out of her bed.

"Well that's a fine hello!" Neon retorted. "Oh...and thanks for leaving the boundaries of Happy Tree Forest and make us think you DIED FOREVER."

Flaky was surprised. She didn't know she had left the boundaries... "I'm sorry for making you worry Neon..."

"Don't apologize to me..." Neon sighed, shaking her head. "Apologize to your sister. You know, she sent a search party after you."

"She did...?" Flaky asked, hanging her head.

"Yeah...I told her everything..." Neon said, her tail twitched as she spoke. "Flippy...I think he's out of it...He's awfully sorry about what happened, and he also wanted me to tell you that..."

"FLAKY!!" Scarlett busted through the door, and rushed to Flaky's side, and shoving Neon to the floor by accident. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?! Nothing permanent right?"

"I'm fine...Just a little dazed. How did I get back home...?"

"I sent everyone after you, even that Petunia girl offered to help. Neon found you, soaking wet, way beyond the boundaries of Happy Tree Forest, it was almost dawn when she returned. Splendid, of course, tried to find you...but in his rush he impaled himself on a tree branch. I always though it would be the kryponut that would kill him."

Flaky thought about it a moment. "Neon brought me back?" She asked, Scarlett nodded, and Neon only stared. "But...the animal who carried me back had topaz fur..."

Neon shook her head in disagreement. "Flaky...you're obviously delusional...are you sure Flippy didn't land a hit on your head?"

"Well...I did have this awful headache...but I don't see how that..."

Flaky was interrupted by Cuddles, Giggles, and Toothy, who had entered the room. "THANK GOD YOU'RE OKAY!!" Cuddles shouted, jumping with joy. Giggles hugged Flaky, and Toothy looked extremely happy, speechless as a matter of fact.

Flippy never came to her house... and throughout the weeks he had avoided Flaky. She still wondered why; she understood that he felt bad for flipping out and attacking her, but guilt couldn't last this long, could it?

Neon was acting weird as well; she was more fidgety that ever before. Everyone had their questions they wanted to ask her, but they all thought it would be better if they just left her alone.

Scarlett, being the older sister, watched over Flaky more. She really didn't want her to get into more danger...although in the town that they were in, danger was inevitable.

Everything had taken a turn for the worse after the night Flaky had left the Happy Tree Forest boundaries...and life for all of them was only going downhill from there.

**Sorry this chapter is so short...but I'm running out of ideas...frickin writers block.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven:

Flippy felt terrible for the whole thing...his demon had chased Flaky beyond the borders...she could have died forever and it would have been all his fault. He wouldn't be able to bear a pain like that. He told Neon everything, including the fact that he was deeply in love with Flaky, and she agreed that what had happened wasn't his fault; she blamed Lumpy for the whole thing.

He sat alone in the park, wondering what to do. He didn't believe his demon could hurt Flaky, he thought that the emotions he was feeling whenever he was around her would affect it...but he was wrong...so very wrong. There was nothing he could do...no matter what that pesky demon would hurt the ones he loved.

"Flippy..." A voice from behind said, Flippy looked over his shoulder, seeing the green fox that was Flaky's friend. "Flaky's alright. But she wants to see you again." Flippy shook his head.

"Why would she want to see me? I almost killed her...for good..."

"Apparently that doesn't matter to her. Or her sister for that matter..." Neon said, sighing. "I don't give a damn either, as a matter of fact. None of us care if she's around you or not."

"Why?"

Neon shrugged. "Beats me...maybe you should go find out...and while you're there...maybe you should tell her how you really feel.." She said, but she wasn't grinning this time, the look in her eyes were serious.

He shook his head again. "I cant." He said, "What if I flip out again? I don't want to hurt her..." He heard the fox groan.

"Does it matter in this goddamned forest?" She asked rhetorically.

Flippy looked to his feet. She kind of had a point...after all...they couldn't die as long as they stayed within the forest, but then he reflected back on what Neon had said before he chased after Flaky...they could still feel pain...

"Hey fox!" Said the all-to-familiar voice of Petunia. She had left her Lemonade stand and was currently approaching Neon and Flippy.

"Oh look, its the living air freshener." Neon mocked.

"Shut up! Listen...someone approached me, and he seemed to have known you. He told me to give you this." Petunia held out her clenched paw and dropped whatever she was holding into Neon's paw, and then she walked off.

Neon examined the object, shock was in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Flippy asked, standing up. Neon didn't answer, she didn't even hear what he had said. She continued examining what she was holding in her paw. It was shining, and had small engravings in it. He stood behind Neon so he could look over her shoulder. It was a small pocket watch, Neon had flipped it open, and was staring at the writings that had been carved inside. It was too small for him to read it from where he was at. But he didn't need to try and read it, he could hear Neon silently reading it aloud.

"...September Fifth...2001..." She muttered, breathlessly. Flippy stared at her, looking confused. Neon shook her head, closing the pocket watch.

"That was seven years ago..." Flippy pointed out, also noting that she seemed frightened. "What happened?"

"Its nothing..." Neon answered quickly, shoving the pocket watch into the pocket of her dark gray jacket. "I'm leaving...think about what we had just talked about." With that, Neon walked away, keeping her head low.

Later that night, Flippy had decided to finally visit Flaky. And he was going to take Neon's advise, and tell her how he really felt about her. He walked in a stride down the sidewalk, heading to Flaky's house. In his haste, he had bumped into Sniffles, causing him to drop his books and fall into a conveniently placed wood chipper. Seeing as that he couldn't say sorry at the moment, Flippy continued onward. Nothing was going to stop him now, now that he had made up his two-sided mind. Of course, he was a bit surprised that his demon hadn't scolded him about what he was doing, and began a lecture about how they didn't need love and crap like that.

He wouldn't of listened anyways, in a way he was just as stubborn as Neon, which, for him, was a good thing. Finally, after twenty minutes of walking, he came to Flaky's house. The lights were still on, which meant that someone in there was still awake, hopefully. He walked up the steps in a hurry, almost tripping on several of the steps. Then, he was right at the front door. He just stood there a moment, debating whether or not what he was doing was right. Finally, he took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

It was several moments before someone finally answered the door, it was Scarlett. "Hello Scarlett, is Flaky here?" He asked, breathlessly.

"Actually...yes, she is." Scarlett said, as-a-matter-of-factly. She held the door open for Flippy, allowing him to come in. When he entered through he doorway, he saw Neon, asleep, sprawled out on the couch. Scarlett moved past the couch, and entered a room. Then, Flippy heard Scarlett talking to someone; it was Flaky without a doubt. The words were muffled because Scarlett had shut the door before beginning her conversation with her little sister; he couldn't hear a thing.

There was a loud thump that had caught Flippy's attention; Neon had fallen off the couch. "Ow..."

"You okay?" Flippy asked, as the fox slowly propped herself up on her elbows.

"I'm fine." Neon replied, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "What at are you doing here?"

"I'm doing something I should've done three years ago." He told her. Neon smiled brightly.

"Well...I wish you luck." Neon said, bowing her head to him. The mumbling in the other room finally stopped, and the bedroom door opened. Flaky exited her room, and immediately stopped. She only stared at Flippy, as he stared back at her.

"Hi...Flippy..." She breathed, looking a little surprised. "Why are you here?"

Flippy stumbled with his words, trying to say what he had been meaning to say for some time now. "I just...uh, I wanted to tell you something..."

Neon had slipped into the kitchen, unnoticed, dragging Scarlett with her. "Hey! What are you doing?" Scarlett demanded.

"We're giving them some time alone..." Neon replied, opening the door a crack.

"Then why are you spying on them?"

"Because its _fun_!" Neon growled, obviously wanting Scarlett to be quiet.The porcupine sensed this, and stayed quiet. After a few moments she began to wonder what was happening. So, after telling Neon it was just out of curiosity, she also began to spy.

"What is it you wanted to tell me?" Flaky asked, keeping her distance at first.

Flippy was still stumbling with his words. "Well...I uh...first wanted to tell you, um...that I'm sorry for attacking you...last week."

"Its... okay." Flaky replied, crossing her arms, and glancing down at her feet.

Flippy looked at her, a little shocked that she wasn't the least bit fazed by the attack. "No...its not." He told her. "It might have been a totally different story if I had caught up with you...if I was still flipped out..."

"Flippy...I'm fine...there was nothing you could do to control him anyway." Flaky said to him, addressing his alter ego. She took a step toward him. "I honestly don't care what he does...As long as you come back."

"Really?" He asked, his face of depression disappearing. His eyes made contact with hers.

"Yes...Flippy..." She said, sighing. "There has been something I've been meaning to tell you...actually, but I never got the chance. I wondered if I should get Neon to do it but...I was just too scared...too shy. Just how I normally am."

"Go on..." Flippy said politely, stepping toward her.

"Flippy...It took me a while to be able to admit before, and somehow Neon was able to figure it out but..." She paused, taking a deep breath. "I'm...I'm in love with you...Flippy."

A silence fell over them, Flippy was a little shocked that Flaky was first to admit it, and Flaky herself was shocked at her own words.

"You really feel that way...?" He asked, Flaky nodded timidly, and began to twiddle her thumbs. Flippy lurched out, grabbing Flaky into a warm embrace. He seemed as though he was almost crying. He replied, "I...love you too..." His voice was calm, as if he wasn't crying, but Flaky knew he was.

Flaky returned the hug, leaning into his warms. She also began crying silently, happily.

Neon looked back at Scarlett, who was staring in disbelief. "What? You thought your sister would never find love?" Scarlett didn't answer, she just continued staring in total awe, she didn't seem to hear Neon's question. This didn't seem good to Neon, Scarlett never ignored her like that. Turning, Neon scanned the remainder of the living room, and suddenly spotted something. "Oh...crap..." She murmured, her eyes gazing out the window. "No..."

Scarlett wasn't seeing what Neon was seeing, she was too busy being happy and shocked at the same time for her kid sister. She wanted to jump out and congratulate Flaky, but she didn't want to spoil the moment. She noticed that Neon was shaking, she patted the fox's back. "Are you alright?" she asked quietly.

Neon seemed to be zoned out, her eyes were fixed on the window, past the lovers. Following Neon's gaze, Scarlett saw what had Neon so out of it all of a sudden, standing just outside was an animal, with topaz fur.

**(It took a lot of thought, but I finally finished this chapter...)**

**Now that Flaky and Flippy had admited their love for eachother...what will happen??**


	8. A Shocking Discovery

Chapter Eight:

The topaz animal began to bang on the door, startling Flaky and Flippy. The both faced the door. The animal continued to practically hit the door rather than knock on it, then he stopped. Flippy looked down to Flaky. "I...think he wants to be let in."

She nodded, and Flippy let her out of his embrace. She approached the door, a bit frightened, and pulled the door open. The topaz animal, stood there a moment, then stepped in. "Thank you..." He said, politely, to her. "I'm sorry for disturbing you...but I'm here because I heard I could find someone I know here..." His voice seemed stern, but calm. He scanned the room, looking for whomever he thought was there. His bushy tail twitched uneasily.

Just then, Scarlett had entered the room, looking at the topaz animal. "Who are you?" She asked. Before he could answer, Neon shot into the room, looking angry.

"_Francis!_" She seethed, growling. "What the hell are you doing here!?"  
"Looking for you..." He said, turning to her.

Her tail twitched nervously. "But why come to Flaky's house, you already know where I live!"  
"But you stopped going back to your home! You've been staying here!"

Neon looked angrily at Francis. "If you think I'm coming home, you a sadly mistaken!"

"Neon, who is this guy!?" Flaky asked, gesturing to Francis. "How do you know him?"

Neon only glanced at her before continue ding to glare at Francis, who stared back at her. "Each time...each time I try to get away from you, you somehow find a way to get to me..." She growled at him.

"Neon, answer me!" Flaky demanded. Flippy and Scarlett only stared at them. Flippy looked to Francis, and then to Neon. There was something strange about the two of them.

"I'm not here to force you to come home...I just want to be able to see you again..." Francis said. "I'm not trying to hurt you...what happened all those years ago...I was filled with anger...I couldn't control myself!"

"I don't care...what you did...It was horrifying..." Neon clenched her teeth, and closed her eyes, as if trying to block something out of her mind. "I just want to forget it all, and whenever I see you...or even think of you, those memories come rushing back!"

"What memories!? Neon, what the hell is going on!?" Flaky asked for the third time.

Scarlett stepped forward. "Neon, what happened all those years ago?"

"_Shut up!_" Neon retorted, looking more frightened than angry. "Just shut the hell up, Scarlett!"

Scarlett backed away from the angered fox. Through all the anger and frustration, Flippy had been piecing everything together, trying to figure out why Neon was so angry, and why Francis looked a little identical. He had come to the conclusion, but still wasn't sure.

"Neon, just listen to me--" Francis was cut off, Neon had made it to an outburst.

"Screw you! Cant you tell that I never want to see you again!?" She hollered. Then, she stormed out of the house, angered and frightened.

Flaky was scared as well, but, believe it or not, she knew that Neon was more scared than she was.

"She's always been this way..." Francis muttered. "..ever since..." he broke off there, not wanted to finish his explanation. He looked to Flaky. "You're her best friend, right?" Flaky nodded. "How long has she been acting strangely?"

She looked to her feet; she honestly didn't know.

"Ever since she got a note from a cat." Flippy answered for her. "She was in the hospital at the time, we were waiting for her to wake up when that cat came in and slipped something into her paw."

"I see...so he delivered the message after all..." Francis said, he noted everyone's puzzled faces and then said. "His name is Murray. He and I go way back, neither of us knew where Neon was, and he had been living here for a while. Neon just showed up by coincidence."

"How do you know Neon anyway?" Flaky asked.

"So she hasn't told you about me..." Francis said, shaking his head. "It makes sense...considering what happened..."

By then, Flippy was sure about his theory on Francis, but Francis had already told them before he had a chance to say anything.

"I am Neon's older brother..."

**Once again, this is an introductory chapter and is short. Hope you like the twist.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine:

"So...you're Neon's older brother?" Scarlett asked, looking curious. "I always thought she was an only child. She is so untrustworthy."

"Okay...for one thing, Scarlett, you've only known her for a month, so shut up," Flaky said, angrily. "Second, why didn't she say something?"

Francis shrugged. "I don't know...it might have something to do with..." He broke off. "Never mind..."

"What?" Flippy asked.

"It's nothing." Francis said.

"No..." Flippy said, "Neon said that twice, and something was definitely wrong. What makes you think I should believe her brother?"

Francis laughed once. "You've got me there. But I don't want to talk about it now...Right now, we need to look for Neon."

They all agreed, and set out to find Neon. Knowing how Neon was like, Flaky thought she could be miles away; she could even be outside of Happy Tree Forest. The thing is, none of them knew where to search for her. The only time anyone ever saw her was when she was at Flaky's house; and there was no way Neon would go home with Francis around.

Two hours passed, and they still couldn't find any trace of Neon; she was incredibly good at hiding her tracks, so they decided to split up to look for her. Flaky walked alone in the forest, desperately looking for her friend. She was slowly coming to a conclusion to where Neon might be. She stopped in her tracks, and began to think. "Okay...lets see...where would I least expect Neon to be?" She wondered aloud, thinking hard. "Her home...? No...that's the _second_ last place... Think, Flaky, **_think!_" **Suddenly, she thought of it. She knew where Neon would be, and without a second thought, Flaky ran out of the forest and back into Happy Tree Town.

--

Flippy scouted the area, looking for any trace of Neon. As he was searching, the voice in his head never seemed to quit.

_Why are you wasting time on this pile of fur!? She's just as worthless as that porcupine wench you love so much._

_She's not a pile of fur. She's a living thing. _Flippy said to it. _And don't you dare talk about Flaky like that!_

He could hear the demon chuckle. _They're both just wasting your time. Why don't you just give up on the both of them? Kill them. They're only just weighing you down. _

_Shut up!_He held his head, trying to block out the voice. But he could still hear it as clear as day, and a queasy feeling started to rise in his stomach. "What are you planning?" He said aloud, the demon didn't answer. He sighed, and continued his search.

--

Flaky grumbled, leaving the house that belonged to the beaver lady. Neon wasn't there. "Why would she be? The lady shot her for God's sake!" Flaky walked down the road in a slump, with Francis around, there was probably no chance of Neon ever coming back. What did he do to her anyways? What did he do that seemed to of scarred her for life?

Flaky continued wondering that while she walked, not paying attention to where she was going. Then suddenly, she ran straight into a golden furred animal. "Oh...geez!" She said, shaking off the daze. "I'm so sorry...Disco Bear?"

Disco Bear was straightening his afro, getting all the out of place hairs back into place. "What's up, Flaky!" He said. "What are you doing out here so late?"

Flaky sighed. "I'm looking for my friend, Neon."

"That green teenaged fox?" Disco Bear asked. "I haven't really seen her..." He said, just then, his cell phone began ringing. Taking it out of his pocket, he flipped it open and brought it to his ear. "Hello? No, Mom, I can't talk right now." He then flipped the cell phone closed. Just a few seconds later, Flaky's cell phone began to ring.

Sighing, Flaky looked to her feet. Just then, something clicked in her head. Neon had a cell phone! She began searching for her cell phone, but unfortunately couldn't find it. She must of left it at home. She looked at Disco Bear, a pleading look in her eyes. "Please...?" Disco Bear sighed, handing the cell phone over to her. Just as she was about to flip it open and quickly entered Neon's cell phone number.

Hoping that Neon would answer, Flaky waited as the ring went out. Suddenly, they heard Neon's rather surprising ringtone.

'_You had a bad day, you're taking one down,_'

You sing a sad song just to turn it around.

You say you don't know, you tell me don't lie

You work at a smile and you go for a ride...

The music suddenly stopped, and the sound of Neon almost gasping was heard. By then, Flaky had already found Neon's hiding spot. Flaky closed the cell phone, and handed it back to Disco Bear. Looking to the forest, Flaky called out. "Neon...?" there was no answer, so she tried again. "Neon, its too late, I know you're there."

She heard Neon's muffled sob; Flaky knew Neon wouldn't leave her hiding place, so she approached it. "Go away..." Neon warned. "I want to be alone..."

"Neon, what did he do that was so terrible..." Flaky asked, both mad and worried.

Neon sobbed again. "You wouldn't understand..."

"_What_ wouldn't I understand?" She demanded. "I won't know unless you tell me..."

Flaky walked passed a tree, and saw Neon, sitting with her back pressed up against the trunk, hugging her knees. Feeling sympathetic, Flaky sat down next to her. "Flaky...my mother didn't die at the same time as my father." Neon suddenly said.

"Then...what happened to her?"

Neon wiped her tears on her already damp jacket. She managed to choke out. "She...died in child birth..."

"...What?" Flaky said, looking down at Neon, who continued crying.

"My father...He despised me for it..." Neon replied. "Seven years ago...I was with Francis. It was late, and he had just brought me home from the park. My dad was furious, he yelled at me and Francis. He was drunk off his ass. I was terrified...but, I think Francis was more afraid. While my dad was talking, Francis took me and ran up to the room that we shared. The next day, after we both were home from school, my father had a sudden outburst and he..." Neon broke off there, as more tears rolled down her cheeks. "...he hit me hard...across the face, right in front of Francis. He looked more pissed off than I did when I just walked out on him earlier tonight."

Flaky looked at Neon with concern in her eyes. She knew Neon had a past, but she didn't know it was that bad... "What happened then...?" She said without thinking, instantly regretting it.

"Francis...he..." Neon paused, taking in a quivering breath. "He killed my father."

**I hope you like this chapter, it wasn't easy to do.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter ten:

Flaky didn't speak, she only stared at Neon in sympathy and shock. Neon kept her head low with her ears flat against her head. She had stopped crying, and was now probably kicking herself mentally. "I honestly don't know why I have been running from him for so long...I _hated_ my dad. But...I was just so scared. I guess the fear was replaced with hatred." She explained. Flaky nodded, turning away from the distressed fox. Neon sighed. "I guess I should face him, huh?"

"I think that would be the sensible thing to do." Flaky agreed, standing up. She reached her paw out to her friend, who grabbed it. Flaky hoisted Neon to her feet. Just then, a fox with topaz fur walked out of the darkness.

"Neon, there you are." Francis said, sighing in relief.

Neon didn't say anything, she only stared blankly at him. Flaky nudged her, slightly. "Neon, are you okay?"

She glanced at Flaky, "I'm fine..." Then, Neon approached her brother. "Francis...?"

"Yeah? What is it?"

Neon stared down at her feet, struggling to find what to say. Frustrated, she looked to Francis. "Why did you kill our dad?!" She growled.

Francis looked shocked. "I didn't mean to..." He told her, "I couldn't control myself, when I saw him hit you, I completely lost it!"

Neon was about to say something, but was cut off by Scarlett who ran, screaming, straight into Francis. He stumbled, but didn't fall over. He turned to Scarlett. "What's wrong?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Neon repeated, "You're acting like Flaky! And that's not a good thing!"

"I think I'll ignore that." Flaky grumbled at Neon. Scarlett caught her breath, and then immediately said.

"Something's wrong with Flippy!"

Neon almost busted out with laughter. "You've been here for how long, and you're just now realizing that?"

Scarlett shook her head. "No, that's not what I mean! I saw him, and it looked as though he was struggling against something. And then, he looking at me with these piercing green eyes and...I don't know, he started saying something. I can't remember what, I was too scared."

"Guess the fearfulness runs in the family." Neon said, earning a smack to the head from Flaky. "What?" She asked, rubbing her head.

"Am I interrupting something?" A dark voice said. Everyone turned their heads to see Flippy, his green eyes glaring menacingly at them, leaning against a tree with his paw wrapped around the handle of a bowie knife. "I guess not."

"What are you doing here...?" Neon demanded, baring her fangs at him.

"Easy now, I'm not planning on hurting any of you...yet."

Francis turned to him. "Then what have you come to do?"

Flippy looked at the topaz fox, grinning evilly. "I came by to pass you guys a message. Flippy is no longer in control, and never will be."

"What are you saying?" Scarlett asked.

Chuckling, the demon answered. "The Flippy you knew will never come back; I found a way to remain in control."

"What did you do?" Flaky demanded, taking a step toward the demon.

He chuckled again. "Don't worry, your lover isn't dead just yet. But soon, he will be, along with all of you." He pointed the knife at all of them, glaring.

Neon laughed mockingly. "You're going to kill us? What good will that do? We'll just back to life the next day."

"Heh...shows what vixens like you know." He said, "And I'm not just calling you that because you're a female fox."

"What...?" She growled. "Could you turn around, ya freakin' demon, I wanna see how far my foot will go up your ass!"

"See? You're almost as threatening as I am." He chuckled. "I'd hate to see what you're like when you're really pissed off."

Neon crouched low to the ground, Francis glanced down at her in worry. "That's easy..." She said, snarling.

"Neon...don't." Francis warned, but Neon was to stubborn to heed him.

"I look just like this!" She lunged at him, her claws unsheathed. In a flash, Flippy had dodged the attack and stuck the bowie knife into her side. She hit the tree hard, and landed with a sickening thud.

"Neon!" Francis called out to her. "Are you alright!?" There was no answer; a pool of red began to form around the green vixen's lifeless body.

"She's dead..." Flaky breathed, as Flippy laughed menacingly.

"Your brother warned you..." He said, kicking at the dead body.

"Stop that!" Francis snarled at him.

Flippy turned to the angered fox, and he grinned. He grabbed the knife's handle and yanked it out of Neon's side. "I guess I should be going." He said, suddenly. "I'll give you a few more days of life before the end." And with that, he vanished into the darkness. Francis ran to his sister.

"Don't worry, she won't be dead forever." Flaky said. "She'll be back by morning."

"But Flippy said he had found a way to kill us all forever." Scarlett pointed out. "How will he do that if we remain in Happy Tree Forest?"  
Flaky shook her head. "I just don't know..." She turned to leave, but then looked at Francis, who remained at his sisters side. "You can leave the body there...she'll be just fine."

--

"What are you planning to do?" Said Flippy, he was only a mere reflection standing in the mirror in from of his demon.

"I'll destroy those idols scattered around Happy Tree Forest." He responded. "I have a theory...It just might be those idols that bring those people back to life. And once I destroy them, the curse around that damned forest will be gone."

"And what if it isn't the idols?" Flippy asked, the demon chuckled once again.

"Then I'll find another way to kill them permanently. There is nothing you can do to stop me either."  
"...why are you doing this?!"

"Why do you think? I enjoy killing, and I want to make every waking moment of your life miserable...right to the very end."

"Why not just kill me and leave the others alone...? You can have the body and there will be no interferences from me!"  
"I can't do that, Flippy, I just don't have it in me." The demon answered, and then began laughing evilly.

--

Three weeks had passed since Flippy's demon had taken complete control over him. Nothing had happened as of yet. Neon and Francis had been getting along better; way better than when Francis had first showed up.

Flaky had been depressed the entire time, and her sadness showed no signs of letting up. Scarlett couldn't help her sister, either, there was nothing she could do. Flaky had lost the man she loved, and anything could happen now that the demon was in full control of Flippy's body. Neon suddenly stormed into the room, looking madder than ever. "Goddammit!!" She shouted. Startling both Flaky and Scarlett. "What can we do!? We can't just sit here and wait for permanent death!"

"Well, that's all we can do." Scarlett said.

"I don't get it..." Neon said, beginning to pace, back and forth. "If we go after the demon, we die; if we stay here, we freaking DIE!!"

Flaky looked up at Neon, with a dead look in her eyes. She didn't speak, she only stared. It didn't seem to faze Neon, nor did she care if her friend stared at her in a creepy way, she just wanted to do something about the situation.

"Neon...can I ask you something?" Scarlett asked, Neon looked at her.

"You're probably going to even if I say no...so what the hell, ask away."

"Are you one of those people who just can't sit there and wait for something bad to happen so you just go and try to deal with it despite you're friend's warnings and then you just make everything worse?"

"Is it THAT obvious?" Neon said sarcastically, shrugging. "But I'm not that much of a dumbass, there is no way I'm going alone!"

"Then I'll go with you." Said the all too familiar voice of Francis the fox. He entered the room, in a less hostile way than Neon.

"Why...?" Neon said. "I snapped at you in more ways than one..."

Francis shrugged. "I don't really know, I guess its because I would kill for you."

Neon smiled, smugly. "Alright, I'll take you with me, on one condition."

"Whats that?"

Neon placed her paws on Francis' shoulders. "Please don't ever, _ever_, make a pun like that again..."  
"It brings too many unpleasant memories?" Francis guessed.

"Yeah, lets go with that..." Neon said, not having the heart to tell him that she never really liked his puns.

"When do we leave?" Francis asked, Neon thought for a moment.

"Tomorrow..." She grinned. "Bright and early..."

**Wow, I finished this chapter in less time than I thought...I hope you like it!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven:

The very next day, early in the morning, Francis woke Neon up and the two foxes began their hunt for Flippy's demon. Neon, although tired and weary, kept up with her brothers swift movements as they both maneuvered through thick bushes that seemed to come out of nowhere.

"How do you plan on finding Flippy's demon?" Francis asked.

"I honestly don't know. Hopefully we'll find some clue to where he might be." She said, as they continued to move through the forest. "And, if we're lucky, he'll find us."

"How will that make us lucky?"

"I...don't...know..." Neon said, pausing between each word for a second.

They continued walking in silence, now that they were through the thorny bushes it would make their journey slightly easier. Francis was becoming frustrated because he couldn't track the demons scent.

After a while, they stopped to rest. Neon had almost fallen asleep while leaning against a tree trunk when a sudden rustle in the bushes caught both foxes attention. Francis half expected Flippy's demon, but the scent didn't seem to match...

Neon growled threateningly, as she drew nearer to whomever was hiding in the bush. Then, Neon leaped into the bush, and pounced onto the perpetrator. "I gotcha now...OH SHI--!!"

"Neon? What happened!?" Francis yelled, soon after Neon's voice cut off. He was petrified with fear, not knowing what could be behind there. He began hyperventilating as he screamed his sisters name. There was no answer at all. "No...Neon! Answer me! _Please_!!"

After a few moments of deadly silence, he heard a dark chuckle. Out of the shadows, the demon half of Flippy appeared, holding Neon in a chokehold. "Hello, Francis." He said. Francis took a step towards the demon, growling.

"_Let...her...go..." _He seethed, taking another step toward him.

"Take another step and your sister dies!" He threatened, taking a bowie knife from nowhere and pushing it against Neon's neck. Francis, still seething with anger, backed away, growling. "Good, now I want you to listen..."

"I have no other choice, apparently..." Francis glared at the demon bear.

"And it's a good thing too, 'caused I'd really hate to see a worthy opponent like this young fox die forever by my own hand...Plus I don't want to get blood on my new army jacket..."

Francis looked at Neon, struggling against the powerful bears grip. But he was keeping her at bay by crushing her windpipe whenever she was almost free. He cringed inwardly; it wasn't the first time he had witnessed someone abusing his sister...and actually enjoying it. A sudden flashback brought him back to the day before Neon's fifth birthday. It was during the evening and their father was drunk, as always. Thirteen year old Francis had Neon, sitting in his lap as he gently rocked her to sleep, promising that when she woke up her presents would be waiting for her. She was almost asleep when their father had to ruin everything.

"There wont be any presents..." He said, in a drunken slang. "I burned them all...You aint havin' a fifth birthday you worthless little brat!" He laughed, as Francis gave him a dirty look. Neon was wide awake now, at the brink of tears. He began to rock her again.

"Don't listen to him...he doesn't even deserve to be called your father...Come on...I'll take you to bed."

"_Hey!! Don't ignore me!!_" The angered fox yelled, more soberly than usual. In fact, the voice wasn't even his own. "_Do you want me to kill her!?_"

Snapping back to reality, he saw the demon still having his sister within his powerful grip. He shook his head franticly. "No...please...leave her alone!"

"What's that tone in your voice? Fear? Worry?...maybe both." The demon chuckled, and then tightened his grip on Neon's neck , once again cutting off the air from going into her lungs.

"Stop...please, have mercy on her!" He said in a raspy, fearful voice. "PLEASE STOP!!"

The demon held his bowie knife to Neon's throat, threatening to slice her neck wide open. Francis shut his eyes, covering his ears as he shouted at the top of his lungs. He almost passed out, as more horror filled memories flooded his mind.

**God...I have writers block again! Whenever I get writers block I begin to wonder if the things I type make any sense or not...I hate that. Well, until my writers block goes away, which will hopefully be soon, see you later!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve:

Francis held his head, trying to block out the memories, but they wouldn't stop. He heard Flippy chuckle evilly as he continued to choke Neon mercilessly. He green eyes never wandered away from the shaking, topaz colored fox. Francis looked up, just in time to see Neon's body go limp. He lost it; he charged at Flippy, tackling him to the ground. Neon's motionless body hit the ground.

"I'm going to _kill _you_..._" He seethed, wrapping his paws around the demons neck; he had completely forgotten that it was still Flippy he was attacking, but now he could only see his father. The demon bear chuckled once again. "I dare you to do it...but first...think of the poor, dandruff ridden porcupine at home, what will she think if you kill me? You know, if I die, both sides of me dies."

"What...?" Francis questioned, the vision of his father turned back into the pale green bear. He kept his paws wrapped around Flippy's neck, wondering what to do. He began taking in deep breathes, as he thought of his sister and the hell she had to go through, only to relive it at this very moment. He stood, letting Flippy up. The demon leaped up, glowering at the fox, who growled. "Count yourself lucky I can't do to you what I did to my father..."

Flippy scratched his chin, wondering what he was talking about. "I guess I should count myself lucky; you look strong enough to actually kill me." He mused

"Exactly." He growled, baring his teeth.

"Ooh, you're just as scary as your kid sister. Who, by all means, isn't very scary."

Francis snarled at the green-eyed Flippy, stepping toward him. Beginning to hyperventilate once more, the topaz fox looked as though he was about to pounce on him again, when suddenly someone shouted loudly into the heavens. "FLIPPY!!"

Flippy turned around, seeing a red porcupine off in the distance, breathing hard. It was none other than Flaky. She had followed them to the valley, in a desperate attempt to save the real Flippy. "Well if it isn't the porcupine wench." The demon snarled, he pointed his knife at her. "What the hell are you doing here? Why aren't you at home crying yourself to sleep?"

She ran up to the group, just in time to hear the comment. She replied, breathlessly. "I'm through with crying...In fact, I'm through with having other people save me...I'm tired of people being hurt because of my needs..."

"Is that so?" The bear said, grinning. "Well, you won't be having any needs anymore...Do you want to know why?"  
Francis growled at the question, knowing what to expect of the demon. Flaky glanced at him, and then looked back to Flippy. She was a little afraid to answer. "Why...?"

He chuckled, evilly. "Because..." He began, smiling darkly, "You'll be dead!" He lunged at her, tackling her to the ground. Francis froze, afraid of the darker bear. Flippy raised his bowie knife high in the air, ready to drive it deep into Flaky's neck. She closed her eyes, waiting for eternal death. It seemed like forever, but it was really only a few moments when Flaky realized that she wasn't dead yet. She cracked one eye open, seeing the demon, struggling to keep his mind straight. The paw that held the knife was shaking, as he still held the porcupine down. "Why...can't...I...kill you...?"

Francis immediately grabbed Flippy and threw him off of Flaky. Grabbing Flaky's paw, he pulled her up to her feet, then spun around to the demon, only to see that he was gone. "Damn! He's gone again!" He cursed, stomping his foot in anger.

"No..." Flaky mourned, shaking her head.

Francis was seething in anger, if it weren't for his sister and Flaky, he would have killed Flippy. He turned to Flaky, now worried. "Are you alright?"

Flaky nodded, quickly, "Yes...but...How will we get Flippy back?" She asked, beginning to tear up. Francis sighed, shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't...know..." He replied, shaking his head. "But don't worry, I'm sure we'll find a way..."

Flaky nodded again, staring down at her feet.

"Flaky, I know you love him, but if things get out of hand...we might have to kill him..." Francis said, in a saddened voice.

Flaky let out a dry sob, "I know..." She choked out, her paws were shaking terribly at the thought of Flippy dieing forever. She rubbed her eyes quickly, but failed to stop the tears from spilling over. "Damn...I can't stop crying...I just said I was through with crying!"

"It's a natural reaction Flaky, you cant really stop it." Francis pointed out, as more sobs racked Flaky's body. His thoughts then returned to his unconscious sister. "We'd better get home soon, there's no telling what else can go wrong." Flaky nodded in response, still trying to dry her eyes. Francis turned to where Neon was laying, only to see that she was no longer there. "What the fu--Neon!?"

Flaky looked up, her eyes red from crying, and saw the problem. "Where did she go?!"

A disturbing thought passed Francis' mind, _What if Flippy...?_ He couldn't bear the thought, he shook his head in an attempt to get rid of it; but the thought remained jammed in the center of his mind. "No... That bastard took Neon!"

"What?" Flaky shouted, worried. "Are you sure?"

Francis gritted his teeth together. "I don't know, Neon can be extremely unpredictable, she probably woke up and followed him. If that's the case, then I hope she survives him, because I'm going to kill her myself!"

Flaky wiped her eyes again, thinking of all the things that could, and probably will happen. Her thoughts kept on returning to Neon; what was going to happen to her?

**Oooh, whats going to happen now? Did Demon Flippy kidnap Neon? Or is she being a dumbass again and following him? I promis that I will at least TRY to make the next chapter longer...my writers block is slowing me down but I have the next chapter planned out. And thanks to Second Hand Regret for giving me that idea that I thought I wouldn't go with. But, I did, and I am happy that I did! THANK YOU!!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen:

"NEON IS MISSING!?" Scarlett yelled.

"I basically had that same reaction." Francis said. "What we need to do is gather as much help as we can and go look for Flippy, and find a way to get that demon out."

Flaky sighed. "How will we find help when everyone's afraid of him!?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out."

Scarlett held her head, rubbing her temples. "Oh my God...she's so stupid! How could she just follow a crazed maniac around like a demented stalker with a weird evil guy fetish!?"

"Scarlett...we don't know if she followed him or if he kidnapped--" Francis said, but was cut off by Scarlett who continued to talk.

"Who raised her to be that way anyways!? It always seemed like she hiding something too, what the hell is the matter with her?! She is so ignorant--!"

_SLAM!! CRASH!_

Francis slammed his fist onto Flaky's dinning room table, busting it in two. Flaky looked at the damage in awe. "Hey... I paid seven hundred dollars for that..."

"Shut up!" Francis hollered. "And you, Scarlett, stop giving my sister crap because she had enough of that growing up in our bastard of a fathers house!!" Scarlett jumped at the outburst.

"What, I thought both of your parents were dead?"

"Well, they are now...I killed my father when I saw him hit Neon, and our mother died at childbirth." He said. "I'm sure Flaky already knows this, since I heard her talking with Neon about it. He began to hate Neon ever since we first figured out her gender, when my mother was still pregnant with her. He had wanted another boy, and well, that wasn't going to happen. He was still happy though, he even made a Happy Sweet Sixteen video for her. We were all happy until my mom went into labor, she was in excruciating pain..." Francis trailed off, not wanted to continue the story. He breathed in shakily, looking as if he were about to cry. He turned to Flaky, "I'm sorry, I'll pay for that." He said, referring to the broken table. "And I'm sorry for yelling at you, Scarlett."

Scarlett nodded, still looking as scared as hell. "Iiiiiiitsss oookkaaay...heh."

With a depressed aura surrounding him, Francis left the room with his ears drooping so low that if they were any longer, they would reach past his shoulders.

Flaky looked at her sister, who looked back at her. "We have to get Neon back somehow..."

Scarlett opened her mouth to speak, but had nothing to say to start an argument. So, reluctantly, she agreed. Flaky decided to start looking for help immediately, and went to the front door. "We should probably find Splendid first, since he can probably round up more people than we can."

Scarlett agreed to this, and Flaky went to open the door. When she did, she was rather surprised. Standing right in front of her, was a blue flying squirrel in a red mask.

"Wow, you're fast." She commented, her eyes were wide.

"I heard shouting coming from this house about three hundred miles away. What seems to be the problem?"

"Splendid...there's something we want to asked you." Flaky said. Splendid nodded in response. "Our friend Neon is in serious danger and we don't know where to find her, so we're gathering help so we can find her quicker. We were wondering if you can help round up some people so we can find her."

Splendid smiled, in a sort of...heroic way. "Of course! Its my duty as a superhero to help the civilians of Happy Tree Town, its my duty to always uphold the law! My duty to--"

"Yeah, we get it! GAWD!!" Flaky hollered.

--

Neon chased after Flippy, running on all fours with her fangs bared. "I'm not letting you get away until I get the real Flippy back!" She said, addressing the demon Flippy, panting. The trees passed by her as a blur, she was surprised that she hadn't caught up with him yet. Her fur was ruffled, and her jacket was a bit torn up from the earlier encounter, but there wasn't anything that would slow her down.

It felt like she had been running for hours, her arms and legs were aching, and it felt as though her lungs were on fire. Ignoring the pain, she continued running. Her tongue hung out the side of her mouth from overheating. There was still no signs of Flippy, "God -freaking-dammit, where the hell is he!?" She yelled. Then, she cam to a sudden realization, and was going to skid to a stop, but she was too late to avoid it. Plunging down from a tree above her, Flippy delivered a bone shattering kick into Neon's back, and pinned her down as they skidded forward thirty two feet before coming to a halt.

"Ha ha...it took you this long to realize that I was just waiting to ambush you...? You pathetic little weakling..." He said, digging his heel into her back. "Your brother could put up more of a fight, and he freaked out when you lost consciousness."

"Why wouldn't he? I'm his kid sister..." She replied, breathlessly, not even attempting to throw him off of her. "And who are you calling pathetic? You just attacked an unsuspecting girl from behind, you coward!"

"What was that...?" He seethed; he took his foot off her back, and replaced it with a bowie knife. He slammed the blade into her back, making her shriek in pain. Smiling evilly, he twisted the knife, causing even more noticeable agony for the young vixen. "Oh come on...you can at least try to make this fun." He said, not noticing Neon reaching for something in the hidden pocket of her jacket.

"If you want this to be fun..." Neon started, finally reaching the object she was reaching for. "Then make it fair!" She said, rolling onto her back, swinging a butcher knife at Flippy. He jumped back to avoid it, pulling the bowie knife from her back.

He looked at the large knife that Neon had been lugging around all this time. "You know, you could have killed me back when I had you in that chokehold."

Neon shook her head, her teeth clenched. "This is only a weapon of defense, my friend; I have no intentions to kill you..." She said, waving the large knife around.

Flippy looked at her weapon, it was covered in rust. Was it rust...? Or was it something else? He didn't care, this wasn't the time to answer meaningless questions. He charged at her, swinging the knife at her. She blocked it skillfully, and pushed him away but she was still within range, he swung at her again, and the blade glided up her arm, tearing the jacket's sleeve. Fortunately for her, it hadn't cut her arm.

Flippy examined the arm, seeing a large scar running up it. "Something tells me that that's not my doing..."

Neon looked at the scar. "Of course it isn't...there can't be any physical scars if you're injured in Happy Tree Town, you idiot. I got this from my father."

"I see... you had an abusive father. No wonder you're so screwed up in the head, but don't worry, you're pain won't last for long..."

He lunged at her again, he was too quick, Neon couldn't block him. He drove the knife into her stomach. He grabbed the butcher knife from her paw, and tossed it several feet away. It soared though the air, and stuck into a thick tree.

"Oh crap..." Neon breathed, as she clenched her new wound. Flippy chuckled, taking the knife from her gut, and pushing her down to the ground. He knelt down beside her, and shoved the knife into her left lung.

The pain was unbearable, and now she couldn't breathe. Removing the knife from her chest, he raised it above his head to stab her again, but she caught his paw before he had the chance to, and shoved him away. "Damn it..." She cursed, as she stood up in pain. Not being able to breath only made things harder for her. She gasped for breath, as she grasped the wound in her chest. "Flippy...even if it means getting killed, I will bring him back..."

"I highly doubt that's gonna happen, vixen." The demon laughed at her.

She smiled, narrowing her eyes. "If I know anything about those exorcism movies that I'm oddly obsessed with, I think I will get him out."  
Flippy stopped laughing, and glared at her. "Just try it..."

Just then, Neon turned and bolted in the opposite direction of Flippy. He stood there, confused. "What the hell!?"

--

"Okay...how many people do we have?" Flaky asked her sister.

"Um...we have...Handy, Toothy, Cuddles, Sniffles, and Pop...I have no idea what happened to Cub, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to know."

"Is that all? Crap...will that be enough to fend off Flippy's demon?" Flaky asked. Scarlett shrugged.

"I dunno...but probably not...we can only hope Splendid pulls through for us."

As if on cue, Splendid came soaring by with an armload of people. "Okay...here's all who agreed to come." He said, setting everyone down.

There were Shifty and Lifty, Giggles, Lumpy, Nutty, Disco Bear, and lastly...Petunia...?

"I thought you hated Neon..." Flaky pointed out. "Why are you going to help her?"

"Well," The skunk mused. "She did something for me way back, so I thought this would be a good way to repay her."

Flaky looked at Petunia in question, tempted to ask what Neon had done for her, but decided against it. "Okay..." She said, nodding her head.

"Well, are we going to get this over with!? Lets go and get that fox!"

--

Neon was out of breath, it didn't really help that there was a hole in her left lung either. She stopped running, panting heavily, she placed her paws on her knees as she gasped for breath. Blood was oozing from the wound in her stomach and chest, and her vision was becoming hazy.

"There you are..." Said a gravely voice, coming from behind her. Neon spun around, seeing Flippy, grinning evily at her. In his right paw was his famous bowie knife, and in the other was her rusty butcher knife. "There won't be any escaping, vixen. This is the end of the line..."

Neon began gagging, and coughed up blood. "Well...what are you waiting for? Kill me...I've got nothing to live for anyway..."

Flippy chuckled at the easy prey. He began to walk towards the injured animal, eager for a permanent kill. But something wasn't right...It wasn't like a fox like her to give up so easily, something was going on. He ignored the strange feeling rising in his chest. He reached her, she was using a tree to support herself.

He was about to shove the knife into the death center of her head, when she suddenly moved out of the way and there it was. A large mirror that he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed before. Standing the mirror was an exact duplicate of himself, only this one had black eyes instead of piercing green.

"What is this...?" The demon asked.

"A magic mirror...and no, this one can't talk to you." Neon said. "And please don't ask me where I got it...I've had this short term memory loss thing since you shoved that knife in my brain..."

"What will this do--...!?"

Suddenly, Neon whacked the demon on the head with a thick tree branch. The demon fell, but the reflection remained standing.

"TAKE THAT YOU SON OF A BITCH!!" Neon said, then turned to the reflection. "Heya Flippy, how're you doing?"

"Shut up and get the hell out of here!" Flippy shouted, pounding on the glass. Neon laughed, and reached into the mirror. Before Flippy knew it, he was outside of the mirror, and standing right in front of Neon. "How the hell did you do that?"

"Some things are better left unsaid." Neon said, obviously avoiding a long explanation. "Well, lets go. Flaky will be awfully happy to see you..."

Just as they turned to leave, Flippy was suddenly hit in the back of the head by a large branch, getting knocked out cold instantly. Neon turned around, and was hit by the same branch. She hit the ground, and started to move in and out of consciousness. Before blacking out completely, she saw the figure of Flippy's demon, standing over her.

**Yeah, I'm gonna wrap this up soon, and if you don't get that mirror thing...I kinda dont either...Isnt that weird? I don't get my own idea...funny...hehe.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter fourteen:

When Neon woke, it the dead of night, and the pain in her chest had gotten, much, much worse. Clutching at the wound, Neon gasped for breath. She tasted blood; there was a lot of it. The blood seeped from the cut on her lip into her mouth, it was disgusting, she didn't really see how Flippy's demon had come to like it so much.

Suddenly, a large, dark brown paw grasped her shoulder, and she let out a shriek of fear, jerking away from whoever was there. "Calm down, fox. If you move around too much, you'll die." Said an all-too-familiar voice. It took a split second for Neon to come to realize who it was that was speaking to her.

With blood sputtering out of her mouth, she took a guess. "B-Beaver Lady?" She said, shocked. "You...defeated the demon...?

"Actually...my name is May. And yes...but I am not sure if he is dead or not." Said the beaver lady, as she pulled Neon up, and leaned her against a tree. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm only bleeding on the inside--ARK!!" Neon coughed up blood, staining her green fur. "See...?"

May looked at the wounds that had been inflicted on the poor fox. "We need to get you back to Happy Tree Town, your brother is worried sick about you."

Suddenly, a single thought (that actually meant something) crossed Neon's mind. _Where is Flippy...?_ Neon scanned the area, but could not see her friend anywhere. Then, two strong arms slipped under hers and lifted her to her feet. Neon looked over her shoulder, seeing Flippy, alive and well. Neon sighed in relief, happy that her friend had survived whatever had occurred while she was unconscious.

"Can you walk?" Flippy asked, holding Neon's shoulders in case she fell. Neon shook her head.

"I feel...incredibly...Light headed..." She told them, inhaling deeply.

Flippy, in an attempt to keep her from falling out of consciousness again, said to Neon, "You'll be fine, you're brothers probably on his way here now."

Neon nodded, beggining to wobble back and forth. She rubbed her eyes, trying to make the haze go away. Her eyelids felt heavy, and she couldn't shake an odd feeling emerging in her chest. Flippy hadn't moved his paws from her shoulders, afraid that if he did, she would collapse.

Neon sputtered up blood, beggining to feel more sick. She hadn't felt this bad since her eight birthday, when she was trapped in a sewer, waiting for someone to get her out.

Then, Neon's eyelids began to slowly close, she tried to keep them open, but it was useless. A sudden voice tore through her mind, snapping her awake. "Neon!" Her brother called out. He appeared out of the darkness, and immediately seized her in a hug. "Thank God...you're alright..."

"Not exactly..." She said, Francis pushed her away to examine her. He saw that her once dark gray jacket was now blood red.

"Neon..." He shook his head, begging to tear up, and hugged her again. "Why do you do these things!?"

"I'm loyal...I do my best to keep a promise, and when I see a friend in danger, I intend to get them out of it." She replied, weakly.

Just then, Flaky and Scarlett came out of the shadows. Scarlett looked relieved that Neon was okay, Flaky had froze at the sight of Flippy. She looked at him in shock, and they both stared at each other for a long moment. After a while, Neon suddenly broke the silence. "Come on already! Share a sappy love moment, no one will give a crap if you do right now!"

Flaky immediately charged at him, and threw her arms around him. He stumbled backwards slightly, but regained his balance. He returned the hug, not caring if her quills stuck him or not. "You're...back." She sobbed, happily, resting her head on Flippy's chest. He nodded, smiling.

"You have Neon to thank for that...she had this strange mirror, and she managed to pull me out of it." He said, and nuzzled her gently. Flaky looked back at Neon, who was rubbing her temples.

Francis nudged her slightly. "Neon...you okay?"  
"Yeah..." She said, "Just a little light headed."

Francis' brotherly instincts told him otherwise. He called out to the lovers, "Hey! We need to get back, so Neon can lay down and get some rest. She looks really weary."

Neon did her best not to let the weariness take over, but she was doing a lousy job at it. Her legs were wobbly, and her vision was foggy.

"Alright, lets go. The way back is this way." Flaky said, pointing east. Francis aided Neon in walking and kept her from stumbling over things. Flaky, Flippy, and Scarlett followed them, all three keeping a watchful eye on Neon.

**Sorry for a chapter this short. This is why I hate writers block so much! Oh well, just a few more chapters of this and the fic shall come to an end...And yes, I skipped a fight scene between Evil Flippy and the Beaver Lady AKA May. Why? I don't know...but hopefully I'll get a chance to explain it in later fanfics!**


	15. The last chapter

**Here's the last chapter! Hope its not confusing...**

Chapter Fifteen:

Luckily, Neon hadn't died even when they were well within the Happy Tree Forest boundaries. The worst that had occurred was her passing out, but she managed to stay awake until they were at least halfway to Flaky's house. Francis carried her the rest of the way.

After putting her down on a bed in Flaky's guest room, which, until now, was Scarlett's bed, Francis took off the torn up jacket and threw it in the trash. He would have to get her a new one later on. He then grabbed a chair from the dining room and placed it next to Neon's bed so he can keep an eye on her. After sitting down, he never moved from that spot, no matter how tired he would get; he wouldn't leave until his kid sister woke up.

Sixteen hours had passed, and Neon still hasn't woke up. It didn't really faze Francis, since, even when they lived with their father, Neon was one to sleep all day long. Through that night, and all through the next day, Francis had been watching over Neon, for any sign that she may come to.

Flippy had gone back to his house to pick up a few things, things mainly for Neon's recovery. He began rummaging through his drawers, looking for his first aid kit. As he looked through his belongings, he came across an old photo; looking at it closely, he came to realize that it was a photo that was taken nearly ten years ago. There were three bears. There was him, still in his military uniform, a light brown female bear standing next to him and a dark brown cub in her arms. He sighed, depressingly, still gazing down at the picture that he held in his paw.

"Flippy? Are you in here?" Said Scarlett, as she entered the doorway. "There you are. What's taking so long?"

Flippy glanced at her, quickly hiding the picture in his pocket. "Hey, Scarlett, I was just looking for something that could help Neon with her injuries."

"Okay...Do you need any help?"

"No...Its okay...I want to be alone right now." Flippy said, glumly. Scarlett gave him a quizzical look, before shrugging.

"All right, I understand. That demon will probably never come back, I guess it takes time to adjust to it."

Flippy nodded at her, smiling. She then left, leaving Flippy alone. He sighed, and took the picture from his pocket. Looking at the young cub, Flippy felt like crying, but he couldn't squeeze out a single tear.

He placed the photo back in the drawer and shut it. He couldn't think of his past now...

After looking around a bit more, he found the first aid kit under the sink in his bathroom, and he left his house, and began the long walk to Flaky's house. His mind was drifting, and the cub from the photo kept appearing in his head. He did his best to block out the painful memories, but after ten whole years of trying, he never was completely successful.

Then, he reached Flaky's house, and it didn't really surprise him to see Cuddles' car there. He was most likely worried about Neon and Flaky. Flippy walked up the steps, up to Flaky's front door. Slowly, he opened it and entered the house, seeing none other than Cuddles, talking to Flaky.

"Well...is she okay?" Cuddles asked, Flaky nodded in response.

"Hopefully, its nothing permanent. She'll be okay."

"Alright, good. 'Cause she's the only other daredevil in this town!"

Flaky glared at him, the anger clear in her eyes. "Is that the only reason why your friends with her?"

Cuddles took a step backwards. "No, not at all! She's nice, caring, the only downfalls are that she has a deep hatred for skunks, she's fourteen, and she came from a hard life."

"Yeah...wait...Why does it matter if she's fourteen and we're eighteen? Do you want to date her or something?"

Cuddles gave her a quizzical look, "Wha--No! Giggles is the only girl for me! Of course, if Neon were a few years older, I'd totally date her!"

Flaky suddenly got a look of boredom, but obviously wasn't bored. She looked at Cuddles directly in the eye, and told him monotonically, "I'm telling." She then made a grab for the phone, which Cuddles reached first, and smashed it. "I'm still telling." She said, glaring at him once again.

"I'd like to see you try." he told her, grinning. Flippy walked up to the two friends.

"Hey, what'd I miss?" He asked, smiling.

"Nothing, Flippy, can I borrow your cell phone?" Flaky asked still glaring at Cuddles. "I need to call Giggles..."

"Well, Flaky, I would, but I'm afraid Cuddles will grab it and break it." He said, jokingly. "Did Neon wake up yet?"

"I don't know," Flaky replied, shrugging.

"I'll go check!" Cuddles exclaimed, and dashed into the room that held Neon and Francis. "Hey, Neon, you awake yet--OH GOD!!"

"What happened?!" Flippy shouted, worried. "Is everything okay?!"

The only answers were Cuddles frantic screams. As soon as the screams stopped, they heard a voice they hadn't heard in the past day or so. "Huh? Cuddles, what the hell happened to you--Oh not again!!" Said Neon. Flaky entered the room, seeing Cuddles, passed out on the floor, once again, half eaten. She then looked to Neon, who was sitting upright in bed, with blood oozing slowly out of the corner of her mouth.

Flaky giggled slightly. "You had that dream again, didn't you?" She asked, as Neon began wiping the blood from her mouth.

"Yeah, but this time it was a skunk. Boy, I'll tell ya Flaky, I really hoped it would be Petunia lying there instead of Cuddles."

"Why do you hate her so much?" Flaky asked.

"I don't know, I just don't like skunks." Neon responded, soberly. She then turned her attention to her brother, who was still asleep in the chair. "How long has he been there?"

"Since we got here. He was really worried about you." Said Flaky, and she gently nudged Francis. His eye slowly opened, seeing Neon, staring back at him.

"Hi, Francis. Did you sleep well?" She asked. She never received an answer, then again, she didn't want an answer, but Francis seized her in a warm hug.

Flaky sighed. "Sibling moments...you gotta love 'em, huh, Neon?" She said, making Neon sneer at her. Ignoring the look of disgust, Flaky retreated back to the living room to be with Flippy, only to see him almost in tears, sitting on the couch. "Flippy...?" She said, getting his attention. He looked up at her, quickly wiping at the tears that stung in his eyes.

"Hi...Flaky."

"Are you alright?" Flaky asked, concerned.

His mind suddenly focused on the young cub in the photo, and he fought back a sob. He quickly nodded, and said, "Yeah, I guess its just one of those days where you just feel like crying." Flippy stood up, and pulled her into a warm hug. "But don't worry about me, Flaky. Everything's fine with me."

Flaky smiled, and returned the embrace. "All right, I'll try not to worry." She said, nuzzling him, lovingly.

As Flippy held her against him, he tried his best to not think of the cub, but the thought kept on turning up.

He knew his past was behind him, but he couldn't help but think that it was going to come back to haunt him somehow...

**Okay...I attempted to setup a sequel here...I think the ending sucks but I had to get this story done and over with. By the way...what Cuddles said about dating Neon...there shall be NO Neon/Cuddles fanfics from me...no...just...just ew. I shall work on a new fanfic now (not the sequel to this...)**


End file.
